My Time With You
by NotOldJustNotYoung
Summary: Lupin and Tonks have been through more together than Rowling let on. Starting from bi-weekly tutoring to a close friendship to the.. well you know how it ends.
1. Meeting

This is my first attempt to write something romantic so bare with me on the mushy stuff. This is my own interpretation of Lupin and Tonks' life together so you may not agree with it all, but hey, I don't really care. Due to idiocy and convenience, the age difference between the two is not 13 years but 9 and Sirius lives with Tonks and her parents instead of James.  
All Characters and Locations belong to the wondrous J.  
Please review so I can get better :)

* * *

The sun had barely risen when there was a sharp knock the front door of the Tonks household. After a minute or two, the door swung open to reveal a short mouse haired girl rubbing her eyes and yawning. "What do you want?" She asked slowly surveying the early visitor. A young man with neat hair and bright eyes.  
"Hello, you must be Nymphadora, I'm Remus, I'm a friend of your cousins, and he said to meet him at this time." As if by magic, a curly haired man appeared from behind the little girl grinning.  
"Moony! Right on time as always"  
"Sirius, glad to see you. Why was it that you needed me so urgently? Remus starred quizzically at his friend.  
"No real reason, just wanted to see if you would come" Sirius beamed. It seemed as though Remus could have punched him had Nymphadora not cut in.  
"Can I go back to sleep now? I have a tutor coming in a couple hours you know." She said as the tips of her hair started turning a deep shade of red.  
"Alas little cousin, your tutor is already here and it would be unfair to keep him waiting for you."  
Nymphadora looked up at Sirius, face like thunder and turned to Remus.  
"Sorry, but you'll just have to entertain yourself whilst I get ready."  
"No problem" Remus smiled a weary smile as she turned a stomped up the stairs. His first student seemed to be polite and nothing at all like her cousin, but only time would tell.  
The girl thought that her new tutor seemed friendly and intelligent, nothing like his best friend, but only time would tell.

About an hour later the dishevelled looking 11 year old once again stumbled down the stairs. As she walked into her living room she saw that Remus had fallen asleep on their settee. Sirius was just about to take advantage of this opportunity when Nymphadora tripped over her own feet creating a loud crash which inevitably caused Remus to wake up with start. As his eyes adjusted to the streaks of light streaming in from the window he noticed two things. The first was his friend looming over him with a quill; the second was his student sprawled out on the floor. "Nymphadora, are you OK?" He asked whilst glaring at Sirius  
"Yeah, fine. Happens all the time" She called from the ground "And call my Dora, it's easier" With that, they set to work. Remus had been asked by the Tonks to teach Dora some basics in magic before her first year. Of course she couldn't use an actual wand so Remus had prepared a sturdy looking stick for her. Throughout the day they practiced and the more familiar Dora got with her tutor, the brighter her hair became, until by mid afternoon, it was almost radiant. Also as she got more comfortable, she noticed more about him. How his eyes were older than the 20 he claimed. How behind the smile was a plethora of pain which he was trying to conceal. Mainly though, that across his face lay many scars, some old, some recent but all deep wounds. She had so many questions for him, but was too afraid to ask.

It was after night fall when Remus finally left. Before he went though, he commented on how talented she could be if her focus was just slightly higher and promised to see her in a few days.  
"That Moony sure has a way with people" Sirius commented from the armchair in the corner. Dora realised that it didn't have to be Remus who answered her questions, her cousin must know at least a few of them.  
"Sirius, what's wrong with him?" She asked in the most polite voice she could muster  
"Why do you think there's something wrong?" He asked back  
"Well, he just gives off a sad feeling even though he's smiling, his eyes seem lonely even though he was around us. The scars..." Dora was now staring at her feet, her hair and red as her cheeks.  
"He's right you know, you could be a talented witch. If you didn't keep eyeing up you tutors" He said with a sly grin. Dora knew he was kidding with her but that didn't mean she couldn't retaliate.  
"I'm sure you could be a great wizard as well, if you stopped ogling Potter!"  
They both laughed and went to bed. Though Dora could stop wondering what had happened to the young man and why her cousin didn't want to tell her. As she gazed up at the twinkling stars that had been charmed above her head, she slowly fell asleep, dreaming of that man.


	2. The Naming Of Tonks

The next few weeks followed in the same pattern. Remus would show up, have a bit of banter with Sirius and then they got to work. Dora leant so much in this short time she felt certain that she was ready to face her first year of Hogwarts. She looked up at her charmed stars on the eve of her departure and noted briefly that there was a full moon before blissfully nodding off.

She woke up early the next morning to the frantic sounds of her mother yelling the kitchen stove. Rolling over she saw with a shock that Sirius was lying on the floor of her room with a deep cut on his cheek. After a few moments of desperately trying to bring him round, he sat up with a sudden jolt. "Sorry, Dora" He stammered meekly, full aware that he was stark naked (save the thin blanket he had managed to cover himself with). With that, the young man ran out of Dora's room leaving her completely confused and unaware of her mother shouting for her to get breakfast. Not the best way to start the biggest day of her life, she thought as she pulled on a knee-length mustard coloured dress. The dress had not been her idea of course. Dora would have much preferred an old t-shirt and jeans but apparently she had to look presentable. Although, Dora couldn't imagine a time when mustard yellow was ever a presentable colour. When she got down stairs, her father began to quickly brush and do her hair in a way her mother had been getting him to practice for at least a week now. Dora ate her eggs in silence as she fantasised about what her day would hold for her. Meeting new people, finding out her house, and most importantly, seeing the hall. The great hall had been an odd obsession of hers for a while and the fact that it would now be a constant feature in her life sent shivers down her spine. The next few hours passed as though in a dream, the car journey to Kings Cross, the rush to find a parking space and the eventual running through the ever-acclaimed barrier to platform 9 and ¾. She hugged her mother and Sirius. Her dad, being Muggle of course couldn't get through and they had said goodbye outside. She was about to board the train when a familiar voice appeared out of nowhere. "Not leaving without saying goodbye are we?" That perfectly articulated voice could only mean one person. Remus. She turned around and gave her tutor a tight hug. Looking up, the young girl realised that the man was looking rather worse for wear. The dark circles around his eyes darker. The straw like hair on his head thinner. The scars on his hands and face fresher.  
"You look terrible" She blurted out without realising. Instead of being hurt like Dora expected, Remus simply grinned and said with a glint in his eye :  
"Still look better than you, mustard seed." They both laughed and smiled that in their own little world, they bareley heard the conductor telling everybody to get aboard. With one final hug from everybody, Nymphadora boarded the train and sat in an empty compartment.

It was soon filled with three other first years that seemed to get along well with each other as well as with Dora herself. The day was as bright as Lupin's eyes. She caught herself thinking this and stopped dead. How could she picture him like that? She was 11 for goodness sakes. He was 25 and a friend of Sirius. She shuddered as realised that she possibly might have her first crush on a fully grown man. So she pushed him out of her mind for now and tried to focus on the game of Wizard snap that was occurring next to her. The rest of the day went by without a single though of The-tutor-who-should-not-be-named. She was quickly sorted into Hufflepuff, along with one of the girls from her compartment, Alley was her name but she preferred to be called by her last name, Ratt. This seemed like a sensible idea for a girl whose name was Nymphadora so she decided to use it as well and thus, she introduced herself from there on out plainly as Tonks.


	3. At Hogwarts

I think I've sorted all the faults with the last chapter if you spot any other inaccuracies, do let me know :)

* * *

The next seven years passed relatively pain free for Tonks. She was rather good at potions and felt confident in her defence against the dark arts skills. In her first week, she showed off her metamorphmagus abilities and her transfiguration teacher, took an obvious and instant like to her. She was popular enough to never be lonely and strong minded enough for teachers to like her as well. Other than holidays where she was pushed towards him, she almost never thought about Lupin. She would have the occasional lesson over summer; however she kept her mind firmly on the learning. But if somebody asked her where she learnt a certain spell, she would quickly brag about having an excellent tutor.

When the day finally arrived for her to leave Hogwarts, her family arrived looking solemn. Sirius had been locked up for nearly eleven years now and was believed to be going insane. No matter how many times they told her though out the years, she still wouldn't accept that her cousin had committed the crimes that he was accused of. She had known him all her life, he always seemed happy and close with James. She shared this with Lupin several times, he wanted to agree, but obviously knew something that made him certain that Sirius was a murderer. They talked more about what she was going to do with her life but simply stated that she had no idea what the future would hold for her. During this conversation, she noticed that Remus was the only person to still call her Nymphadora, a name that she had almost gotten rid of. Whenever she told him to stop, he would smirk and call her by the awful name louder and more frequently. That small smile, covered by more scars each time she saw him, was, as far as was concerned, the last mischievous tie to his old group at school, The Marauders, now that all the others were either dead or locked away in Askaban.


End file.
